Reconfiguring Access [Dutton]

I was looking forward to this session as it was being presented by Bill Dutton, the Director of the Oxford Institute.  Bill presented the session Reconfiguring Access: Societal Implications of the Internet, largely an overview of findings from the World Internet Project, which began in 2000.

The World Internet Project is essentially a consortium of 15 nations, in which each conducts similar questions for internal and global cross-demographic analysis.  OII's participation consists of the OxIS surveys: a research effort of multi-stage probability samples for England, Scotland, and Wales, considtaing of partipants 14 years and over, face-to-face surveys.  The latest acheived 2,030 respondants and a 66% response rate.

The WiP is currently trying to trying to get participation from more countries, though I was surprised to see that neither Australia nor New Zealand were amongst the conglomerate.

Some interesting results from the study:

• On the aggregate, experience is one of the major factors in those who purchase online.
• Dimensions of trust
  Net-Confidence 
        - Reliability of information
        - Based on a reliability rating for different ‘kinds’ of internet media 1-10
        - Non-users are most likely to have a lack of confidence in the Internet 
        - More experience = more trust
        - Control for skill could be “Have you ever created a webpage”
  
  Net-Risk 
        - Privacy at risk? 
        - People can get information about you? 
        - Difficult to assess products?
  
• Net as an “experience’ technology
  Higher proximity = higher experience = higher trust (higher learned level of trust?)
        - How many years have you been using the Internet (=longevity)
        - Type of Access? (=type)
        - Hours online (= intensity)
  
• Bad e-mail experience indicators
  More proximity = more SPAM (i.e. bad experiences) = less trust 
        - Too much SPAM
        - Likely fraud
        - Virus
        - Obscene, abusive e-mail

Note to self: must get a hold of Bill's book Society on the Line (Dutton et al., 1999).